Tag Archives: iPad covers

My determination to return to blogging more regularly was severely dented when my site was hacked recently. Luckily I had friends to turn to for immediate short term help, and was then able to employ a company to finish the clean up. I hadn’t realised though how it had affected my blogging until I looked at where I was up to in sharing photos of my projects. As a result be prepared for lots of photos!

There have been some turbulent times here in the nest, which hasn’t helped with my focus. The chicks’ father has had some changes in his life that have impacted on our tenuous ability to communicate about the children, so much of my energy has been consumed in trying to wade through that murky mess. The good thing to come of this is that I needed to be creating for therapy, so have made a few things I am quite proud of!

The first step was making up some freezer paper stencilled bags, and some heat packs, to stock in Shop Handmade.

Next was taking the wallet prototype and factoring in all the advice I was provided through my Facebook questions. As a result I have a design that I am quite happy with! These are made with ‘fused leather’, which is real leather bonded onto a rayon backing – it makes it lovely to work with and has a gorgeous soft feel to it. I have been using a bag that I made from it for a few months now and it is showing no signs of wear, so I think these wallets should have a good life in them!

I also managed to make seven superhero capes as an order for a friend who needed them for an office team exercise. The delight with which they were received and donned (I love an excuse to use that word) was beautiful. They even had their CEO put one on and she insisted on wearing it back to her office on another floor! I commented on Facebook that it is amazing what a piece of fabric and some imagination can do to lift your day!

My other creative challenge has been to take part in an Instagram photo-a-day challenge coordinated by the very lovely Jess van Den from Create and Thrive. The title is ‘a month in the life’ and it is designed to showcase our lives, processes and inspirations as creative people. I am really enjoying participating, and finding new creative people to learn from and enjoy. If you are an Instagram user I encourage you to do a search under #ctmonthinthelife and see some of the beautiful images being shared!

For now here are my first 15 out of a possible 16. (Number 6 was ‘action’ so I made a video that appears after the photos!)

This is me in ‘action’ folding the internal pockets of a wallet I was making.

In other creative adventures I have been making padded iPad covers (check out out the details on the ‘willow print fabric’!)

My final photograph is a bragging mother moment. The artist-in-residence (my 9 year old daughter) had a painting that she did at school selected to be included in an exhibition designed to highlight art in public schools. She had painted a dingo, and her painting is seen behind the speaker opening the exhibition (and immediately above the head of the artist herself!) in the picture below. That was very exciting, but even more exciting is the fact that her school has been approached with a request from someone who wants to buy the painting! I will now negotiate with the potential purchaser and then the artist-in-residence will decide whether she wants to sell or not. If that wasn’t exciting enough, another piece of her art, a drawing of two gang-gangs (native birds that are the emblem for our area) has been chosen to launch an art competition, and will appear in the newspaper next week. To say that she is proud and excited is an understatement!

While this post just skims the surface of what is happening in the nest, I hope that you have enjoyed the pictures! I will be posting again soon as part of a series on ‘why I write’ that I have been nominated for, so stay tuned!

the little bird

Welcome to a little bird made me!
I am Theresa, the little bird who makes things. If I am going to label myself I am the mother of three chicks, a fabric addict, designer, small business owner, friend, lover of music, owner of chickens, and now a farmer on land just outside Canberra, Australia.

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Today I am packaging up a bulk order of my reusable teabags for a client who will include them in gift hampers, and working on another bulk order for a different customer who will include them in gift boxes! I admire how many people are supporting the shift to handmade and sustainable products. ... See MoreSee Less

Good morning! Here is a splash of bright colour to help you start your week- a custom order I am working on for a customer to gift to her sister. I love knowing who orders are going to - it helps with the design and styling because each cosy is unique, just like each customer ! (And yes, that is my knee acting as the model for the cosy!)

Well, I have done it - completed my order for a set of tea cosies for the beautiful cafe Le Bon Melange. In the process I think I have perfected my pattern for making the tea cosies, so decided it was time to share it here. This is the first time that I have published a crochet pattern, so please be gentle with me - and let me know if you find any errors!! [ 575 more words ]

I haven't been talking about my reusable tea bags in all the excitement of making colourful tea cosies so thought it was time I did! A friend asked me today what the story is with this concept and how to use them so here is an explanation.

I drink a fair bit of loose leaf tea and use infusers to make a mug of tea but for some of my cups an infuser is the wrong shape/size etc and that is where a tea bag is easier. But then I discovered that my 'organic fair trade tea' teabags weren't breaking down in the compost or worm farm because they are made with plastic in them 😱. Enter the organic cotton reusable tea bag as a replacement!

To use them I put a teaspoon of loose tea in the bag and draw the string tight, then use it as I would a normal tea bag. After your tea has reached the strength you want you can either empty the tea leaves while the bag is wet by turning it inside out, then rinse the bag and let it dry before using again, or you can leave the bag to dry and shake the dry leaves out, then rinse and dry. I like to shake the dry leaves out but it means that the tannins from the tea stains the cotton. This doesn't affect the functionality of the tea bag, just the look! You can pop them in the wash for a deeper clean (inside a lingerie bag so they don't get lost!) or give them a soak in bicarbonate soda and vinegar to remove any buildup.

One of the photos below shows the discolouration of a teabag after several weeks of continuous use. Although the fabric will eventually wear out and need replacing I estimate that I with 4 bags in circulation in my kitchen I have conservatively saved over 100 teabags from becoming landfill in a couple of months, and the bags are still going strong!

I like that these are really portable- pre-filled at home they slip into a pouch in my bag to take with me. I hope to release travel pouches for them soon so that you can safely carry dry bags out and wet bags in without making a mess in your bag!

If you haven't any questions please don't hesitate to ask! (And I do wholesale these.) ... See MoreSee Less